Biography
Biography: Alhad Anant Pawar
Abstract
Resilience is an individual's ability to adapt to stress and adversity and also to bounce back from a negative experience. A number of approaches to resilience-building have been developed, gathering attention mainly on the theory and practice of behavioral therapy. Development and enhancement of resilience among military personnel is highly essential as they experience higher degree of stressful situations and adversities. An emerging field in the study of resilience is application of mindfulness meditation towards enhancing resilience. Mindfulness is a process through which one pays attention to experiences in the present moment in an intentional and nonjudgmental manner. There has been a significant increase of interest in research, application and understanding psychological effects of mindfulness-based interventions in recent years. Numerous studies have examined and demonstrated the benefits of these interventions on various domains of human functioning, ranging from cognition, attention, psycho-somatic and physical symptoms, improved well-being and greater psychological resilience. Research has also demonstrated various psychological and neurobiological mechanisms through which mindfulness may lead to improved psychological functioning and enhanced resilience which in turn ensure ready and resilient workforce. This workshop conducted by Dr AA Pawar and Dr JK Panda aims to integrate findings from studies from various disciplines that highlight a variety of ways through which mindfulness enhances resilience. The workshop will also include an experiential exercise, during which the audience will be invited to engage in a brief, guided mindfulness practice to gain practical understanding of mindfulness.